How to Become a Teacher in Prince Edward Island

Written November 13, 2026

The short answer

To teach in a Prince Edward Island public school you must hold a valid Prince Edward Island teacher's licence, issued through the Registrar in the Department of Education and Early Years. The academic base is an approved 120 semester hour bachelor's degree in education, or a degree of at least 90 credit hours plus an approved teacher education program of at least 30 credit hours that includes a practicum of at least 12 weeks. The application is online, the fee is $125, and your criminal record check and vulnerable sector screen must be current to within three months when you submit.

The province keeps the routes separate, and picking the right one at the start is most of the work: one online application serves graduates of the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) Bachelor of Education program, another serves graduates of Canadian universities outside Prince Edward Island, and a third serves applicants whose education degree is international.

Step 1: Complete the academic and professional studies

The Certification and Standards Board policy on issuance of a teacher's certificate sets the base for an Academic Teacher's Certificate. The Registrar must have official documentary evidence that you hold:

• An approved 120 semester hour bachelor's degree in education, or
• An acceptable undergraduate degree representing a minimum of three years of post-secondary study totalling a minimum of 90 credit hours from a recognized post-secondary institution, plus an approved teacher education program representing a minimum of one year of post-secondary study totalling a minimum of 30 credit hours and including a minimum 12-week practicum at a recognized post-secondary institution

A parallel Career and Technical Education Teacher's Certificate exists for trades-based teaching, on its own requirements in the same policy. This guide covers the academic certificate, which is the route most applicants take.

Step 2: Gather the Registrar's evidence

The same policy lists what the Registrar must verify before a certificate is issued:

1. Your identity
2. Your eligibility to work in Canada
3. That you have completed the required academic and professional studies for the certificate you are applying for
4. If you completed your teacher education outside Prince Edward Island, that your teaching certificate is in good standing in the jurisdiction where you completed your teacher education and in every jurisdiction where you have been certified to teach, even if you never taught there
5. English or French proficiency under the board's language proficiency policy, if you completed any of your secondary, post-secondary, or teacher education in a language other than English or French
6. A satisfactory criminal record check and a satisfactory vulnerable sector screening check, current to within three months of submission

On the UPEI graduate application, that evidence list becomes a practical upload list: your post-secondary history with official transcripts from each institution for each credential, the Prince Edward Island school authority you are interested and available to teach in (English or French), your personal background and professional credibility answers, a criminal background check and a vulnerable sector screen each issued less than three months before, proof of identity such as a passport or birth certificate, and proof of eligibility to work in Canada, such as a work visa, if you are not a Canadian citizen. It is your responsibility to arrange for each institution to send its official transcript directly to the Office of the Registrar.

Questions about the file go to the Registrar at registrar@gov.pe.ca.

Step 3: Apply on the right route and pay $125

Prince Edward Island splits the application by where you were educated:

• UPEI Bachelor of Education graduates use the online application for UPEI education graduates
• Graduates of Canadian universities outside Prince Edward Island use the separate online application for that group — you must hold valid Prince Edward Island certification to teach in the province, and your good-standing evidence from your home jurisdiction is part of the file
• Internationally educated applicants start with Pathways to Teach Canada (Step 4), then complete the online application for applicants with an international education degree

The cost to process a Prince Edward Island teacher's licence is $125, stated on both the UPEI graduate page and the international applicant page. For the UPEI route, the province states the end of the process plainly: the Registrar evaluates your application and issues your teaching certificate within two weeks.

Step 4: Coming from another province or another country

Teachers licensed in another Canadian province or territory do not go through Pathways to Teach Canada. The international applicant page states it directly: if you currently hold a teacher's licence from another Canadian province or territory, you can apply directly to Prince Edward Island for a teacher's licence. Your file carries the good-standing evidence from Step 2 — your certificate standing in the jurisdiction where you trained and everywhere you have been certified.

Internationally educated teachers start with Pathways to Teach Canada, the single entry point and first step for teachers trained outside Canada who want certification in participating provinces and territories, including Prince Edward Island. Pathways evaluates your credentials and language competency and sends the results to the provinces you select. The Prince Edward Island online request that follows is for applicants who completed their pre-service professional teacher education program outside Canada. To teach in a Prince Edward Island public school you must hold a valid licence and be thoroughly proficient in either English or French; you will be asked to complete a language proficiency test if you completed your education degree in a language other than English or French.

The documents on that route include proof of identity (birth certificate, passport, permanent resident card, or immigration record), proof of eligibility to work in Canada such as a work permit, statements of professional standing from the jurisdiction where you completed your pre-service training and every jurisdiction where you were certified, a Canadian criminal background check including a vulnerable sector screen current to within three months and covering your current and previous full names, and full payment of the $125 certification evaluation fee. Documents must be presented in the official language of the granting institution, with an official translation from an approved service for anything not in English or French.

Step 5: Upgrading your level after you are licensed

Prince Edward Island certificates carry qualification levels, and teachers apply to upgrade them as they add coursework. Have the coursework pre-approved by the Registrar before you enrol — the province provides a pre-approval form for exactly that — and then apply for the upgrade with proof of completion. The Registrar must receive an official transcript of marks sent directly by the academic institution.

The upgrade page gives the step sizes: Level 4 to Level 5 takes ten approved courses (30 credits) beyond the Level 4 requirement; Level 5 to C5A takes ten approved courses at the fourth-year level or higher; Level 5 to C6 takes ten approved courses beyond Level 5 plus an additional master's degree in a professional area related to the authorized Prince Edward Island school curriculum; Level C6 to C7 takes ten more approved courses plus an approved master's or doctoral program. The evaluation fee for an upgrade is $50, and an approved upgrade qualifies you for a salary increase effective the date the Registrar received your completed application.

What the opened pages do not state

The Prince Edward Island pages opened for this guide state the $125 licence fee, the $50 upgrade evaluation fee, the 120 semester hour and 90-plus-30 academic bases with the 12-week practicum minimum, and the two-week issuance statement on the UPEI graduate route. They do not state an issuance timeline for the out-of-province or international routes, a tuition figure for the UPEI Bachelor of Education, or a teacher salary — pay follows the certificate level under the province's agreements with its teachers — so this guide gives none of those.

Related guides:

• How to Become a Teacher in Canada — the national picture: every province certifies its own teachers, and the certificates do not automatically transfer.
• How to Become a Teacher in Ontario — certification through the Ontario College of Teachers, a regulator model Prince Edward Island does not use.
• How to Become a Teacher in Alberta — another department-run certification route in a larger province.
• How to Start Getting Your Foreign Teaching Credentials Recognized in Canada — the credential assessment mechanics for teachers trained outside Canada.

Sources

• Government of Prince Edward Island, Apply for PEI Teacher's License — UPEI Education Graduate — the online application for UPEI Bachelor of Education graduates, the document list including transcripts, criminal background check and vulnerable sector screen issued less than three months prior, the $125 fee, and the Registrar issuing the certificate within two weeks.
• Government of Prince Edward Island, PEI Teacher's License for Applicants with an International Education Degree — Pathways to Teach Canada as the first step for internationally educated teachers, the direct route for teachers already licensed in another Canadian province or territory, the document list, and the $125 certification evaluation fee.
• Government of Prince Edward Island, Certification and Standards Board Policy CSB 13-06 — Issuance of a Teacher's Certificate — the Registrar's six verification items, the 120 semester hour education degree and the 90 credit hour degree plus 30 credit hour teacher education program with a minimum 12-week practicum, good standing in every certifying jurisdiction, and the three-month currency of the criminal record and vulnerable sector checks.
• Government of Prince Edward Island, Academic Teacher Certification Upgrade — the pre-approval rule, the ten-course (30 credit) step sizes between levels, the additional master's degree for Level C6, the $50 evaluation fee, and the salary increase effective from the date the Registrar received the completed application.